Gil Hill, a former Detroit city councilman and one-time mayoral candidate better known to action movie fans as the salty-tongued police Inspector Douglas Todd in three “Beverly Hills Cop” films, has died.

“Gil had been recently hospitalized and was on the road to recovery,” family spokesman Chris Jackson said. “We are relieved that his passing was peaceful and painless.”

Hill spent 30 years with the Detroit Police Department and about a dozen years on the City Council. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2001.

“He never stopped believing in our city and dedicated his life to making our city a better place for all,” Mayor Mike Duggan said Monday night in a statement.

Hill was head of the Detroit Police Department’s homicide division when he landed the supporting role in 1984’s action-comedy, “Beverly Hills Cop.”

In the film, Todd was boss to Eddie Murphy's Detective Axel Foley character. Todd, who was killed off early in the third film in the series, often would erupt with expletives due to Foley's rule-bending investigative methods.

Hill was elected Detroit City Council president in November 1997, unseating incumbent Maryann Mahaffey. It was his third four-year term on the council.

As a councilman, Hill supported casino gambling in the city and helped broker deals for new baseball and football stadiums downtown.

He finished second to then-state Rep. Kwame Kilpatrick in the 2001 Detroit mayoral primary, but lost a close race to Kilpatrick in the November general election.